Superstorm Sandy From Formation to Landfall

23-31 October 2012: Hurricane Sandy drifted up along the Gulf Stream from the Caribbean to the mid-Atlantic to become wedged between a stationary cold front over the Appalachians and a static high pressure air mass over maritime Canada. The Canadian air mass blocked the storm from moving farther northeast. Instead, the easterly winds circulating around the south side of the Canadian high amplified Sandy and drove it westward into the mid-Atlantic states. Sandy became a ferocious "Nor-easter" that brought record storm surges to coastal New Jersey and New York, and the cold front caused blizzard conditions along the Southern mountains. The storm surget at high tide created unprecedented chaos in New York City, such as darkening lower Manhattan and flooding the subway system on the evening of 29 October.